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July 31
Events * 30 BC - Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide. * 781 - The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781). * 904 - Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city. *1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant - The French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. *1451 - Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France. *1498 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. *1588 - The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England. *1655 - Russo-Polish War: Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years. *1658 - Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India. *1667 - Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ends the conflict. *1703 - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers. *1741 - Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia. *1777 - The United States Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." *1790 - First U.S. patent is issued; granted to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. *1856 - Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city. *1865 - The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia. *1913 - The Balkan States signs an armistice at Bucarest. *1917 - The Third Battle of Ypres starts in Flanders. *1919 - German national assembly adopts the Weimar constitution (to come into force on August 14) *1930 - The radio mystery program The Shadow is aired for the first time. *1932 - The NSDAP wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections. *1936 - The International Olympic Committee announces that the 1940 Summer Olympics will to be held in Tokyo. However, the games are given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War breaks out, and are eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II. *1938 - Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanta (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia) *1940 - A doodlebug train in Cuyahoga Falls collides with a multi-car freight train heading the opposite way, killing 43 people. *1941 - Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question." *1945 - Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria. * 1945 - John K. Giles attempts to escape from Alcatraz prison. *1948 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated. *1951 - Japan Airlines is established. *1954 - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. *1956 - Jim Laker sets an extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class match (the previous best was seventeen). *1961 - At Fenway Park in Boston, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. *1964 - Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. *1970 - Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. *1971 - Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover. *1972 - Northeast Airlines flies its last flight before being integrated into Delta Air Lines the next day. *1973 - A Delta Air Lines jetliner crashes while landing in fog at Logan Airport, Boston killing 89. *1975 - In Detroit, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing. *1976 - Viking program: Viking 1 - NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo. *1981 - General Omar Torrijos of Panama dies in a plane crash. * 1981 - 42-day strike of Major League Baseball ends in the United States. *1987 - A rare, class F-4 tornado rips through Edmonton, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage. *1988 - 32 people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Malaysia. *1991 - The Medininkai Massacre in Lithuania. Soviet OMON attacks Lithuanian customs post in Medininkai and kills 7 officers, 1 of severely wounded (after a head shot) becomes disabled. *1992 - A Thai Airways Airbus A300-310 crashes into mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113. *1996 - MIL-STD-1750A is declared inactive for use in new designs. *1999 - Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector - NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface. *2006 - Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana Pequeña Habana in Spanish, Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated. *2007 - Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end at midnight. Births *1143 - Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165) *1396 - Philip III (d. 1467) *1527 - Maximilian II (d. 1576) *1598 - Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654) *1702 - Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768) *1704 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752) *1718 - John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772) *1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801) *1737 - Princess Augusta Charlotte of Wales (d. 1813) *1803 - John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889) *1816 - George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870) *1835 - Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912) * 1835 - Paul du Chaillu, French explorer (d. 1903) *1843 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918) *1858 - Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist (d. 1936) *1860 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940) *1867 - Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist (d. 1966) *1880 - Munshi Premchand, Indian poet *1883 - Fred Quimby, American film producer (d. 1965) *1884 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945) *1887 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969) *1892 - Joseph Charbonneau, French Canadian Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal (d. 1959) *1901 - Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985) *1904 - Brett Halliday, American writer (d. 1977) *1911 - George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983) *1912 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer * 1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 2006) * 1912 - Irv Kupcinet, American newspaper columnist (d. 2003) *1913 - Bryan Hextall, Canadian hockey player (d. 1984) *1914 - Louis de Funès, French actor and comedian (d. 1983) *1916 - Billy Hitchcock, baseball player, coach, and official (d. 2006) * 1916 - Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979) * 1916 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist, and writer *1918 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate * 1918 - Hank Jones, American pianist *1919 - Curt Gowdy, American sports announcer (d. 2006) * 1919 - Primo Levi, Italian author and chemist (d. 1987) *1920 - James Esdras Faust, American religious leader (d. 2007) *1921 - Whitney Young, American civil rights activist (d. 1971) * 1921 - Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005) *1923 - Ahmet Ertegün, Turkish-born record company executive (d. 2006) *1929 - Don Murray, American actor * 1929 - José Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer * 1929 - Lynne Reid Banks, British author *1930 - Oleg Popov, Russian clown *1931 - Kenny Burrell, American guitarist * 1931 - Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach *1932 - Ted Cassidy, American actor (d. 1979) *1933 - Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer *1935 - Yvon Deschamps, French Canadian author, comedian and humorist * 1935 - Geoffrey Lewis, American actor *1936 - Vic Davalillo, baseball player *1939 - France Nuyen, French actress *1941 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician *1943 - William Bennett, 3rd United States Secretary of Education * 1943 - Susan Flannery, American actress * 1943 - Lobo, American singer and songwriter * 1943 - Sab Shimono, Japanese American actor *1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress * 1944 - Jonathan Dimbleby, U.K. journalist and television presenter * 1944 - Robert C. Merton, Leading Scholar and Nobel Prize Winner *1945 - Gary Lewis, American drummer and vocalist (Gary Lewis & the Playboys) *1946 - Bob Welch, American musician * 1946 - Karen Zerby, current leader of Children of God *1950 - Lane Davies, American actor * 1950 - Steve Miller, American writer *1951 - Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player * 1951 - Barry Van Dyke, American actor *1952 - Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player * 1952 - Alan Autry, American football player, actor and politician * 1952 - Helmuts Balderis, Latvian hockey player * 1952 - João Barreiros, Portuguese writer *1953 - James Read, American actor *1954 - Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player *1956 - Michael Biehn, American actor * 1956 - Deval Patrick, American Politician * 1956 - Bill Callahan, American football coach *1957 - Daniel Ash, British musician (Bauhaus) * 1957 - Leon Durham, American baseball player * 1957 - Dirk Blocker, American actor *1958 - Bill Berry, American drummer (R.E.M.) * 1958 - Mark Cuban, American businessman, producer, and basketball team owner *1959 - Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist *1960 - Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player *1962 - John Chiang, American politician * 1962 - Kevin Greene, American football player * 1962 - Wesley Snipes, American actor *1963 - Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player * 1963 - Fatboy Slim, British musician *1964 - Jim Corr, Irish singer and musician (The Corrs) *1965 - John Laurinaitis, American professional wrestler * 1965 - J. K. Rowling, British writer * 1965 - Scott Brooks, American basketball player *1966 - Dean Cain, American actor *1967 - Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005) * 1967 - Mitsuo Iwata, Japanese seiyū *1969 - David Cash, American professional wrestler * 1969 - Loren Dean, American actor * 1969 - Kenneth D. Schisler, American politician *1971 - Gus Frerotte, American football player * 1971 - John Lowery (John 5), American guitarist *1973 - Chandra North, American supermodel *1974 - Emilia Fox, English actress * 1974 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player *1975 - Simon Hirst, British radio DJ *1975 - Allan von Schenkel, American musician * 1975 - Bloodshed American rapper (d. 1997) * 1975 - Randy Flores, American baseball player * 1975 - Mike Lincoln, American baseball player *1976 - Joshua Cain, American guitarist (Motion City Soundtrack) * 1976 - Annie Parisse, American actress * 1976 - Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer *1977 - Tim Couch, American football player *1978 - Justin Wilson, English race car driver * 1978 - Will Champion, English drummer (Coldplay) *1979 - Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer * 1979 - Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer * 1979 - J. J. Furmaniak, American baseball player * 1979 - Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer * 1979 - B. J. Novak, American actor *1980 - Mils Muliaina, New Zealand and Waikato rugby player *1981 - Eric Lively, American actor * 1981 - Ira Losco, Maltese singer * 1981 - Matthew "M. Shadows" Sanders, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold) *1982 - Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer *1986 - Evgeni Malkin, Russian hockey player *1989 - Victoria Azarenka, Belarusian tennis player *1990 - Olga Galchenko, Russian juggler Deaths * 855 - Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780) *1396 - William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342) *1508 - Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1494) *1556 - Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest and founder of the Jesuits *1653 - Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576) *1726 - Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695) *1750 - King John V of Portugal (b. 1689) *1784 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encylopedist (b. 1713) *1864 - Louis Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800) *1875 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808) *1886 - Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811) *1914 - Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859) *1917 - Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881) * 1917 - Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans), Welsh poet (b. 1887) *1944 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (b. 1900) *1953 - Robert Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889) *1943 - Hedley Verity, English Test cricketer (b. 1905) *1954 - Onofre Marimón, Argentine racing driver (b. 1923) *1964 - Jim Reeves, American singer (b. 1923) *1966 - Bud Powell, American jazz pianist (b. 1924) *1972 - Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899) *1980 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902) * 1980 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924) *1986 - Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900) * 1986 - Teddy Wilson, American jazz pianist (b. 1912) *1990 - Albert Leduc, French Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902) *1993 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930) *2001 - Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926) *2003 - Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933) *2004 - Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917) * 2004 - Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927) *2005 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker (b. 1935) *2006 - Paul Eells, "Voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks" sportscaster (b. 1935) Holidays and observances *Hari Pahlawan - Malaysian warrior's day. *Ka Hae Hawai‘i - Hawaiian Flag Day. Roman Catholicism * Saint Germanus (died 448), bishop of Auxerre, confessor Paris * Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits External links * BBC: On This Day * * On This Day in Canada ---- Category:July